


Late Night Gaming

by polandspringz



Category: gen:LOCK (Web Series)
Genre: Ether, Found Family, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Sibling dynamic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-10
Updated: 2019-03-10
Packaged: 2019-11-14 19:53:51
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,840
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18058994
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/polandspringz/pseuds/polandspringz
Summary: Alternatively: "Yasamin Go to Sleep Challenge"“What were you doing up in the Ether for so long?”Yasamin stuttered with her fork for a moment, “What do you mean?”“I saw you on it before I visited the Doc last night. I checked the logs in the morning and saw you didn’t leave until one thirty!”Cammie is found asleep in the lab. Yasamin is caught not sleeping. The two find common ground in an unexpected place.





	Late Night Gaming

**Author's Note:**

  * For [CrystalQueer](https://archiveofourown.org/users/CrystalQueer/gifts).



> This was a request by Cora for some big sister Yasamin content! It's a shorter one, which I am grateful for. I might stick with this format for a bit since I have a lot of gen:LOCK fic ideas I want to publish ASAP. Yasamin is always an interesting character to write for me. Also, this was only beta-ed once, so forgive any errors! I'll update it if I see any. 
> 
> Please Note: Whenever Yasamin's name is in italics (Yasamin), it is being pronounced as "Yaz-E-Man", as Dr. Weller sometimes does in the show. I decided to include this detail because someone on Tumblr explained that this pronunciation actually shows Dr. Weller thinks of Yaz as his own daughter. With that in mind, enjoy!

Yasamin was quiet as she logged out of the Ether. She had sensed the others enter the dorm a long while ago, but none of them had made any attempts to disturb her. As she removed the headpiece and glanced around, she made note of the dimmed lights, the silence, and the sight of her friends, Kazu and Valentina, asleep. Softly, she pushed herself away from the desk and stretched, arms above her head as her muscles popped. How long had she been in there? It had been a few hours since dinner, and she really never did _much_ when she went into the other world, so how did so much time pass?

 

She swung her legs and spun the chair around so she could make her way towards the door. The displays projecting for only her eyes to see told her it was one in the morning. She had been online since ten. She would probably get bombarded by Valentina when they all woke up about what she had been up to last night, who she had met, where she had went- all questions that would be presented with a smirk and knowing eyes. Yaz shook those thoughts away as she slid outside of their room and into the hall. Truthfully, she hadn’t been much of anywhere. She just got… _caught up_ in her thoughts, was all.

 

The hallways were patrolled regularly, but the gen:LOCK team didn’t have as much restrictions or curfews because the Doctor the never slept, so any sort of question for them leaving their room could be passed off as seeking advice or some therapy for their experiences in the Holons. The Colonel likely received these reports and time stamps of the gen:LOCK team with a complaint to Dr. Weller to control his pilots better, but it was _true_ that there was no one else on the base who could relate to, let alone comfort them about their experiences than one another.

 

Speaking of, as Yasamin traced the maze of the Anvil, boots clicking along the floor quietly, she noticed the readings on her display of Chase’s status. Muscle memory guiding her through the paths that held the medical ward and the kitchens, she watched his vitals. He was always awake, but he seemed a little more awake and stimulated than usual. _What music is he having Caliban blast at this hour?_ She wondered, hoping that whatever it was would be contained inside the lab and not blaring for the Colonel to come bothering the Doctor about tomorrow when the rest of the base was unable to sleep. She also hoped whatever it was, the Doctor was enjoying it, because he had seemed extra stressed lately and Yaz feared anything, including herself, disrupting her focus.

 

She stopped beside the open mess hall door, her display folding up and fading away as she scanned the empty tables. Her and the rest of the team ate in a separate area usually, their own kitchenette for Kazu to go wild on, hardly ever a visitor to disturb them at mealtime. It was almost foreign to Yasamin, seeing such a big eating area like this, and while it was surely full of life during the day by all different recruits, she couldn’t help but shudder a bit as a dark memory resurfaced. She pulled her display back up quickly and let the blue light cloud her vision, her legs taking over to carry her as she rubbed a hand over her neck nervously.

 

Visiting Chase might do her some good. She hadn’t had a chance to have a late night talk with him in some weeks. _Yes, let me see Chase,_ she thought, _and Dr. Weller._

She had barely taken one step when she saw the notification pop up on her screen. She ducked inside the cafeteria and turned her sound up, pulling the screen from her watch instead of having it just display in front of her.

 

_“Yasamin!”_ Dr. Weller’s face appeared, his voice a hushed whisper as he leaned in close, “I need you to come to the lab for a minute.”

 

Her face always lit up whenever he called her _Yaz-e-man,_ but the time and his secretiveness made her squash down her joy and prepare herself for the worst. She instinctively leaned closer to the wall next to the door and her fingers twitched if she need to grab her gun, “Doctor, what’s wrong?”

 

“Oh, nothing really, but Cammie’s down here and-”

 

“Why is Cammie awake this late?” She frowned. Cammie was always in her bed by morning, but for the past week, she had seen more tired than usual during training.

 

“I could be asking you the same thing, _Yasamin,”_ He smiled, “She wanted to learn more about how I devised the code for gen:LOCK, so I’ve been running through some of the basics of it for her. After today’s mission, I figured she would exhausted, but she insisted we continued anyway. She fell asleep down here, and while I could have Caliban bring her down, he’s been rather clumsy lately, so I didn’t want her waking up along the way. She might try to take him apart or decide to game a bit if she does.”

 

“Do you want me to come get her?”

 

“It would be very much appreciated, yes. I know Valentina and Kazu are closer with her, but I saw they both were asleep and to be honest, I do not want to invoke either of their wraths in the morning.”

 

Yasamin sighed and relaxed, “I’ll be there in a minute, Doctor. I was coming by to talk to Chase anyway.”

 

The call ended and disappeared back into her watch, and she blinked away the other displays as she started back on route, making her way to the lab with a small smile adorning her face.

 

* * *

 

When she entered the lab, she was surprised to see the Doctor standing with his eyes narrowed and locked on whatever was on the ground. As she rounded one of the consoles, she saw the sprawled out form of their youngest member, her arms and hair wildly around her as she snored loudly.

 

“Did she just collapse?”

 

“I’m not sure. She was working on the floor a lot, but I was making some tea when I heard her slump over. She’s been like this for a few minutes.”

 

Yasamin turned her head towards where Chase was, “How is he? He seemed more active when I checked earlier.”

 

“Cammie was talking to him earlier. I think they were setting up plans to game in the Ether? Hopefully you all don’t have any sudden missions tomorrow so nothing interferes. Now, _Yasamin,_ what were you doing for so long in there? It’s unlike you to be up this late anymore, let alone in the Ether.”

 

Yasamin smirked and bent down, scooping Cammie up and throwing the younger girl over her shoulder as she stood up, “Who knows? Maybe I stumbled upon your old Just Dance videos.”

 

He seemed amused, tucking one arm behind his back as he waved her off, “Let’s keep those a secret between you, Chase, and I. It’s only a matter of days before Cammie finds my old avatar.”

 

Yasamin walked towards the door, giving Chase’s tank a small wave before she stepped out.

 

“Good night, Doctor.”

 

“Good night! Make sure all our recruits get their rest. I will see you all bright and early.”

 

The doors didn’t slide closed behind her, so Yasamin continued in the blue light radiating out of it into the hall for a few more moments.

 

Back down the hall she went, retracing her path from before, but making sure her steps were slow and her grip around the girl she carried secure so she didn’t jostle her at any point. Cammie began to mumble out so ininteligible words somewhere along the way, and Yasamin realized it wasn’t just sounds from whatever dream she was having, but full Gaelic. Listening more intently now, she managed to hear a few names thrown around in there.

 

_“Kazoo…”_

Well, that’s not unexpected, Yasamin thought as she managed to unlock their door with her card, slipping inside with the other girl. She had gotten Cammie back without any trouble, now the challenge was to lift her into bed without throwing her roughly.

 

Yasamin looked to Cammie’s bed, right above where Valentina slept, they had turned away now, giving more leverage for Yasamin if she need to step onto the thin mattress. If she planted one foot on the edge and then grabbed ahold of one of the rungs on the bed’s frame, she could easily swing herself up enough to drop the girl. However, Yasamin’s own bed wasn’t too far away, and was one of the lower bunks too. Scenarios of Cammie waking up due to her head being slammed against the frame instead of the pillow and waking up with enough noise to shake the whole dorm.

 

She walked over to her own bed and gently lifted the seventeen year old off her shoulder. As Cammie’s limp body fell into her arms, she cupped the back of her head, her ponytail bunching up above her head, strands slipping through Yaz’s fingers as she laid her down. She pulled the blanket up over her, and her hands hesitated when the rabbit ears gave another flick towards a snore coming from Kazu. Cammie would likely be more comfortable with them off, but she didn’t want to accidentally damage anything in the hearing aids by taking them off. She stole another pillow and propped the girl up so she wouldn’t be rolling and crushing them when she slept.

 

Taking one more look around the room, Yasamin resigned herself to go back to the lab. She didn’t feel tired yet, but didn’t quite have the energy to hoist herself up into Cammie’s bunk for the night. Exiting the room once more, she checked the displays and saw a message from Chase. The door closed behind her, and as her autopilot kicked in again, she failed to notice the blonde girl sitting up in bed to watch her retreating form.

 

* * *

 

Cammie sat down next to Yasamin at breakfast that morning, surprising her other two “siblings” as she left a gap between them where she normally sat. Green eyes bright and somewhat mischievous, she leaned forward to get a better look at Yaz’s face.

 

“What were you doing up in the Ether for so long?”

 

Yasamin stuttered with her fork for a moment, “What do you mean?”

 

“I saw you on it before I visited the Doc last night. I checked the logs in the morning and saw you didn’t leave until one thirty!”

 

Valentina stopped cutting her food, and Yasamin prepared herself for the onslaught of jokes and insinuations, but instead was met by genuine concern, “You were in there for three hours?”

 

“That’s not all. She went back on around three until we woke up!”

 

_“That’s not healthy,”_ Kazu commented. Yasamin poked at her egg, one fist supporting her head as she leaned over the table.

 

“I don’t see what the big deal is, it’s not unlike all of you to visit the Ether for such long periods of time.”

 

“But you don’t go to clubs,” Valentina pointed at Yasamin with her knife, casually without any hint of a threat, “Unless, last night you were-”

 

“Or game!” Cammie shouted, throwing her hands in the air, “You can lecture me all you want about getting no sleep for playing online, but _you_ have no excuse.”

 

Yasamin snorted, shaking her head amused.

 

“Did you even get any sleep last night? Does the Doc know about you going out like this?”

 

“I got rest, if that’s what you wanted to know. And I didn’t really _go_ anywhere. I dozed off while online a few times, that’s all.”

 

“The logs from the Ether and your vitals prove that to be false. I couldn’t care less what ya do with your freetime, but you aren’t looking too good, Yaz. It might be good to go take a nap for the rest of the day.”

 

“If you were looking into it that much, then you must have known where I was. Why do you continue to ask?”

 

At her harsh tone, Cammie visibly deflated, and Yasamin looked away. Even if it was an invasion of privacy, her team had right to be concerned, but she didn’t feel all that tired. She took the worried expressions of her friends faces in and was thankful Chase wasn’t here or she might have really been done in by his disapproval. She pushed her bangs back and tried to shake any sleepiness out of her. She decided to finish her meal early and take Cammie’s advice, throwing her tray out and walking off.

 

“I’ll message Dr. Weller before I sleep. If we get called in, wake me right away.”

 

She gave them a brief wave before exiting. Rather than going towards the dorm, she headed towards the lab.

 

  _“Yasamin!_ Good morning! You are certainly early. How are you?” He greeted her warmly, giving her a hug before he ushered her into the lab.

 

“I’m fine, Doctor, but, the team is insisting I rest today, but I didn’t want to miss training if I was needed, or if we knew about another attack coming in.”

 

“Well, you and Chase have been at a plateau in your growth since the others are catching up to you, but you only help monitor the others, so I think Chase and the striders could handle it.”

 

“Are you sure it’s okay?”

 

“Of course, I’ll send the Colonel an update and I’m sure your teammates can inform the striders and the engineers in the hangar that Huma will be staying today.”

 

She frowned, crossing her arms, “But I don’t feel tired.”

 

“Maybe not, but if you got inside your Holon, you might be at more of a disadvantage than you think. You need to take care of your body and your mind, and if we had to send you in, you might not be thinking as clearly, even as a computer.”

 

She frowned- pouted, the Doctor would say- and he pulled out his chair, offering it to her.

 

“This wouldn’t have anything to do with those Ether logs that Cammie sent me this morning, would it?”

 

She stiffened, but sat down. He stayed behind her, placing his hands on her shoulders and squeezing reassuringly.

 

“Did you find something over there?”

 

“It was somewhere I never thought to look. It reminded me of _home._ ”

 

She looked forward without focus, and Dr. Weller slowly let his hands fall away, understanding all too clearly what she meant by that.

 

“Was it that familiar?”

 

_“Yes,”_ she sighed as she said it, a smile on her face. She didn’t elaborate any more, and the Doctor stepped away from her.

 

“I know it must be both wonderful and painful seeing it again, and I have no doubt that you want to go visit it again, but you need your sleep.”

 

Her smile fell, and she stood up again. She knew he was correct, she had seen his surprise when she entered, the lines by his mouth becoming a thin line for only a moment when she told him that she was _fine._ She knew his body language well enough after almost three years, and she knew better than to argue with him.

 

“You’re sure it’s alright?” Her voice was small and hesitant.

 

“I know you will probably want to jump back into the Ether, but to ease everyone’s worries, including my own, please sleep.”

 

“I’ll handle things for today,” Chase’s body materialized near them, and once Yaz saw his expression she knew she was defeated, “Get some sleep, Yaz.”

 

As she was leaving, she passed by the other three, who all regarded her with questioning gazes, but she brushed past all of them and made her way to the dorm without a word. She went to her bed as silently, seeing two pillows still there from Cammie last night. One was tossed towards the other girl’s bunk. She stretched her arms over her head and then crawled onto the hard mattress, but as she got ready to lay down, she caught sight of her Ether headpiece over on the desk.

 

Being in the Ether all night didn’t make her tired. She didn’t know what everyone was talking about, she looked fine. They were just being paranoid.

 

With little reason, she got back up and put the headpiece on, laying down in bed before turning it on.

 

If they came in, they would see she had been in bed. She was resting, so no harm done. Besides, if there was a problem, she would hear it in the real world or get an alert. It was better than sleeping and not hearing anything, afterall.

 

* * *

 

She had been sitting outside the city, staring from a distance atop a large dune as the sun beat heavily above her. There was no risk of dehydration here, no sensation of the burning heat on her. She had been like this for hours, not just now, but since yesterday, standing, watching, never moving.

 

Cammie found her amongst the sand. She had returned from training and gone to the dorm early, seeing Yasamin with the Ether headpiece on, and the logs confirmed it, online since this morning. Rather than getting the others, she forwarded the reports to the Doc along with a small note that she would “handle it”. Grabbing her headpiece, she sat down on the floor beside Yasamin and leaned back against the bed frame.

 

Entering the Ether, she found her location relatively quickly, but she was stopped for a moment when she saw where. It was the game she had managed to wrassle all of them into playing last week. When she joked that Yasamin wasn’t into gaming, she didn’t think she would eat her words later, and she truly didn’t feel like she was yet. Yasamin had been in this area for over ten hours combined, and she didn’t appear to be making any progress in the game, and she _wasn’t a gamer._ She had made an effort not to look into what she had been doing in the Ether to respect some part of her privacy, but now, Cammie resolutely decided to jump in now and deal with the trust issues later. She clicked the game and warped in.

Dressed in saffrons and bright oranges that were lightened by harsh sunlight, she looked… washed out. Cammie had warped in near the slope of the dune, and could see Yasamin from the profile. Her longer hair whipped around the folds of her hijab, her coat billowed around her knees. Her face was… entranced. Sometimes, when the wind blew strong enough, she would open her mouth almost in a gasp, and her eyes would widen. When the wind was still, she would press her lips into a thin line and her eyes would be glossy and sad, narrowed as she watched a city from kilometers away.

 

“Well, now is a good of time as any,” Cammie muttered before she hopped the rest of the ways up the dune, “Hey! Yaz!”

 

The woman snapped to attention almost, and then slowly turned to look at the bunny beside her. Cammie saw a brief flash of guilt and then resignation as she turned to look back at the city.

 

“I won’t argue. You’ve must have already checked the logs anyway.”

 

“I did. You _should_ be asleep, but that doesn’t matter much now. But, what are you doing here, Yaz? There are much more exciting things to do in this game.”

 

“Everyone has their own things they like to do in the Ether.”

 

“But you’re not a gamer!”

 

Yasamin smiled at that, and folded her arms as the wind started up again, “I’ll try not to take offense to that.”

 

Cammie saw her mouth open slightly again, just as the sand started whipping around again.

 

“Why are ya doing that? You want to get sand in your mouth?”

 

“I missed the taste of sand.” Was all she said, and Cammie froze.

 

When they had come across this place, they had deemed it boring and decided to go try an area with more treasure to steal, something more Egyptian style or whatnot. Yasamin had been quiet when they landed in the desert, but Cammie always assumed it was because she was disinterested, having be practically forced to play. Now…

 

“Was this what your home looked like?”

 

She chuckled at that, and Cammie’s ear shot up. That was a good sign, a good sign.

 

“Well, I didn’t live out in the wild desert, but yes, somewhere like _that.”_

 

She didn’t gesture, but her eyes remained locked on the horizon. Peach and beige colored buildings, some white and blue colored domes stuck out, and when Cammie zoomed in, she could see the intricate designs painted onto the roofs and towers.

 

“Why don’t you go inside that area then? Wouldn’t you feel more at home if you saw the place and not just… this?” Her little rabbit avatar twisted around, “I mean, I know you said you missed the taste of sand, but they have got most of the details of the world spot on is this game. Wouldn’t it be better if you were to see the shops and the people in the city rather than standing out here?”

 

“...I don’t want to go in.” She confessed, her voice small and quiet, so much that it startled Cammie, “The other places we’ve been too… they were accurate, yes, but how accurate? Iran was mostly Unionized by the time I was nine, and… I don’t know which version I want to see, or if I want to see either at all.”

 

Cammie went to say something, but saw Yasamin dissipating from the Ether, her avatar turning into blue hexagons as Cammie was eventually able to see past her into the empty space of nothing but more sand. Before the wind picked up and got more sand in her fur, she logged out too.

 

* * *

 

Cammie tore the headpiece off roughly and turned around, ready to jump up and chase after her friend if needed, but stopped when she saw her sitting cross legged on the bed. Short haired and dressed in the military jacket and Holon suit once more, she looked worse than this morning, eyes not only rimmed by dark circles but red rings from rubbing away the tears streaking her face.

 

“Yaz…” Cammie reached up, and put a hand on the older woman’s knee, “I’m sorry, I… I shouldn’t have invaded your privacy like that, but… I know it’s only been one night but… you can’t keep doing this _every night._ The Doc will likely chew you out later, but we _need_ you when we go fight the Union.”

 

Yasamin was silent. Cammie twisted around and knelt facing the bed, resting her head and arms on the edge.

 

“I know I’m not much for comfort words, but think of it this way… If we can defeat the Union here, we’ll likely get sent to help defeat them abroad. We might be able to…”

 

_“Don’t,”_ Cammie’s ears twitched as Yasamin spoke in words she didn’t understand, but the translator from her eyes’ display fed her the information. Yasamin pressed a hand to her face, forehead scrunching up and more tears falling as her voice shook, _“Don’t get my hopes up. If it doesn’t come true then I’ll…”_

“Okay,” was all Cammie said, before climbing onto the bed beside Yasamin, and wrapping her arms around the woman. She hugged her tightly for minutes, listening to Yasamin whisper out phrases and curses between English and Farsi, struggling to hold it together. Cammie could feel her chest shuddering and her back racking with sobs with every few breaths, and it made her squeeze her a little more, some immature part of her wishing she could eventually squeeze all the of the pain out of her friend until she was back to her calm, cool self that she admired so much.

 

When Yasamin finally did calm down, Cammie sat down across from her, and the two laughed a little as they wiped away their faces, as it seemed both of them had been crying a lot.

 

“So, how was training?” Yaz tried, “Did you shoot anyone on accident today?”

 

Cammie held out her hand, “There will be time for that later. For now, you need to sleep. For real.”

 

She grabbed the headpiece off the bed and twirled it around her finger for a moment, grinning.

 

“I’ll be confiscating this, and all the others in the room, including my own, to make _sure_ you sleep.”

 

“Doesn’t that just mean you’ll have four Ether accounts then?”

 

“Nah, I’m gonna give em to the Doc to hold onto. We all need a break, me included.”

 

Yasamin laughed a little more at that, and the sound made Cammie’s heart swell even as she saw the tired eyes get glossier, “I don’t think Valentina will agree to that.”

 

_“_ It doesn’t matter. If it’s for you, she and Kazu will deal with it. Now, _sleep!”_

Cammie shoved Yasamin back so her head hit the pillow and then hopped off the bed, grabbing the blanket and laying it over her. She then walked around and scooped the other headpieces up and made for the door.

 

“By the way, thanks for fetchin’ me from the lab last night. The Doc said you carried me back, I’ll try not to do it again.”

 

“It was no problem, Cammie.”

 

“I’ll tell the others to keep out until dinner. We’ll wake you then, but if you’re too far into dreamland, I’ll have Kazu save your food for a midnight snack.”

 

“Thank you,” Yasamin said, shutting her eyes.

 

She heard the door slide open.

 

“Have a good nap!”

 

And then slide closed.

 

* * *

 

“Unbelievable,” Yasamin said a few nights later, around two in the morning, staring over Cammie’s unconscious form on the floor of the lab, “I have to do everything myself.”

 

“I truly don’t think it’s intentional. She just goes down when I walk away sometimes.”

 

“She hasn’t had access to the Ether, maybe it’s withdrawal?” Chase added.

 

“No, I don’t think it’s that. What could she be working on that’s making her tired? She doesn’t do much down here other than look at my notes.”

 

“Whatever it is, it needs to stop. I shouldn’t even be up at this time, according to Cammie and _your_ orders.”

 

“Yeah, Yaz, why are you up this late?”

 

“I was looking for a book of mine that I had misplaced. Anyway, I’ll be taking her now.” Yasamin grabbed ahold of her ankle.

 

“Woah, you aren’t even going to carry her?”

 

“If she wakes up, its her fault for not being in her own bed. Goodnight.”

 

Yasamin waited until she made it to the elevator and was out of sight of the windows of the ESU to scoop up Cammie onto her back. She trudged back to their room, where she dropped Cammie down on her bed, the second pillow already set out for her to be propped up on again since she got the call from the Doctor.

 

Everyone was asleep now, except for her. She looked towards Cammie’s bunk, but she didn’t feel like crawling up there, especially with not how much her legs were hurting from the more hands on sparring she had done with Valentina outside of their Holons earlier today. She looked back to her own bed, and decided with a sigh, to just accept it. She crawled up on the other side of Cammie, and closed her eyes. If Cammie was awake, she would probably yell at her to sleep anyway, so she wouldn’t be bothered in the morning by it at all. Yasamin was out like a light within a minute.

 

Once she was certain she was deep enough in sleep, Cammie opened her eyes and sat up. Placing one pillow underneath her friend’s head, she made easy work of her hearing aids and removed them, placing them on the bedside table that extended from the wall. Laying back down, she pulled up her displays, seeing all the new armor designs she had been making.

 

She pulled one file to fullscreen, and smiled at the model she had built, thinking of the book she had left back in the lab for the Doc to examine for any other ideas.

 

_Huma,_ Yaz had called it, _a phoenix,_ the book had described it as, one that never touched the ground.

 

She felt Yaz shift beside her, and she quickly closed the display, plunging the room back into gray and black, and decided to shut her eyes too.

 

_One day,_ she thought to herself, as she too succumbed to sleep.

 

She would make sure that one day Yasamin got to touch down in her home again, without any fear of what awaited her.

 

**Author's Note:**

> Part 2: "Cammie hacks everyone's Ether accounts and gives everyone furry avatars." -Cora
> 
> If you couldn't tell I love writing fics where I can make Yaz cry.
> 
> I've got another sibling fic on the way, featuring Val/entina and Cammie! If you want to send me any requests or anything, message me on tumblr! My url is the same as my user here.


End file.
